Two ways to pickle lemons

March 9, 2010 | 2 comments

We’ve got loads of lemons right now and I don’t care what they say; you can only make so much lemonade. So I’ve been pickling them every which way. One way is a spicy Indian recipe that I’ve mentioned before. That one’s a time-tested favorite. The other (on the left in the picture) is more of a Mediterranean lemon, although I’ve tweaked it by leaving out the olive oil and adding turmeric. Read on for a step-by-step recipe.

Not only do we have a lemon tree in our yard, our neighbors have one that I see every morning. Whenever I see it I think pickles. Luckily the neighbors like to share.

These are the lemons their tree gives us. They’re small and mild. Not like a Meyer though. More like a cross between a lemon and an orange.

The lemons from our tree, on the other hand, are sour and tend to run large.

For pickling it’s best to use the freshest lemons you can get. In fact, it’s ok if they’re somewhat unripe. It’s the rind we’re really pickling here, in a salty goo of fruit and spices, and we want it firm and bitter. However, we also want the insides to readily loosen and ferment, so if your lemons are hard you can soften them up by rolling them a bit under the palm of your hand.

Chop off the top of the lemon if there’s any stem still attached. Then slice them up into pieces small enough to sit easily on a teaspoon. The little lemons are just about the right size as full and half slices.

The large ones are much bigger, and need to be chopped smaller. Take out any seeds you find.

How many lemons will you need? To fill a half-gallon mason jar you’ll need… more than you think. I don’t have an exact count (especially considering size variation), but after chopping, salting, and squishing you can squeeze a lot of lemons into such a jar. I like to wash two dozen small lemons, then toss them into the jar as I chop them. I press them down as I go. Once I’ve come close to filling the jar I pour them back out into a big mixing bowl.

I put all the chopped lemons into a big bowl and add 1 cup of salt.

Then I add a tablespoon of turmeric.

Mix ‘em well to get salt all over everything. And watch out if you use your hands. Grinding them against all that salt can burn.

Start filling the jar and add a few bay leaves and cinnamon sticks as you go along. Three of each is plenty, but add as many as you like. Mash the lemons down to get out air bubbles and make the most of your jar space.

Once the jar is close to packed, add the juice out of two to four lemons.

Then put on a lid and give the jar a good shake. I like to use plastic lids because the metal ones rust when salty pickle gets on them. You can usually plastic ones next to the mason jars at the hardware store.

Leave the lemon out on a counter or in front of a warm, sunny window. Shake the jar every day to mix the lemons around and coat them with the salty brine-mush, limiting the period that any particular lemon spends exposed to the air where molds can grow. It won’t hurt to shake the jar two or three times a day. This is most important at the beginning when you want the good fermenting bacteria to take hold instead of mold, but you should keep doing it every day that the jar sits out. After shaking you can also turn the jar upside down and leave it that way for a day.

After a month or so the lemons will be soft, a little mellower in flavor, and very salty. I use them whole and mashed to flavor soups, sauces, marinades, and dressings. They’re also good under a bit of fresh olive oil as an appetizer along with olives and bread. Yum.

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Sauerkraut and bratwurst

March 3, 2010 | 1 comment

bratwurst and mustard seeds on sauerkraut

A classic combination. This weekend I helped my buddy Bill cook and serve a snout-to-tail pig dinner. The two of us are part of a group of homebrewing chefs called Eating About Beer that concerns itself with making and pairing good beer and good food. You can read what Bill had to say about our debut dinner last November here. All the photos on this page are the work of the photographer and gourmand Phil.

Anyway, when you’re wondering how to eat sauerkraut, or what to eat with sauerkraut, bratwurst is quick to come to mind. For the dinner, Bill stuffed his own with a mix of ground pork shoulder, eggs, a bit of cream, and traditional spices. He set slices on fresh, drained kraut that had fermented for two weeks, and topped them with yellow and black mustard seeds that had simmered for 45 minutes in a mix of water, sugar, and vinegar. The creamy mustard you see on the plate is a mix of Dijon and marzen beer from Gordon Biersch, which we also served with the dish.

pouring beer

This beer has a good story. In German, “marzen” means “March”, which, before refrigeration in Germany and Austria, was the last month before the summer in which it was cool enough to brew beer. To survive the hot months, marzens would be sealed in caves and cellars with blocks of ice. The brewers would also preserve the brew by adding extra malt to boost its alcohol content. The brown beer that resulted was richer and stronger than your usual lager and would be consumed until Oktoberfest, where it is still drunk between bites of (you guessed it) bratwurst. Its malty, biscuit-like flavor cuts through the fatty sausage without overwhelming its flavor.

Here’s one more pic, just for fun.

bratwurst and mustard seeds on sauerkraut

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How to make kefir

February 21, 2010 | 4 comments

avocado kefir shake

Kefir is a fermented milk beverage similar to yogurt that’s easy to make and has unique health benefits. It’s thinner than yogurt and I like to use it to make smoothies, like this one flavored with avocado and dates. Unlike yogurt, kefir is the product of a colony of bacteria and yeast called “kefir grains” that is squishy to the touch and looks a little like a cauliflower floret. In this post I’ll tell you how to use it to make kefir.

kefir grains

Here are the grains, rinsed clean. As long as it’s fed some kind of milk (or even sweetened water) regularly, the culture will grow and live indefinitely.

kefir grains

Feeding the grains, and making drinkable kefir in the process, is simple. Add about a tablespoon of grains to a jar with 2 cups of milk—you can use cow, goat, or sheep milk. Put a lid on the jar and leave it out at room temperature for about a day. The culture will consume the lactose in the milk and create lactic acid, which gives the milk a sour taste. The yeast will release carbon dioxide (so don’t be startled if the kefir comes out a little fizzy) and a trace amount of alcohol. (About 1%, or so I’m told. I’ve never noticed.)

The culture will also produce kefiran, a substance that thickens the milk somewhat. The bacteria and yeast use it to build the grains, and it has been shown to have beneficial antimicrobial and healing effects.

jar of kefir

The longer you let the culture sit in the same milk, the sourer it will become. I like to leave it for two days, and sometimes forget it for three or more. If it becomes too sour, you can add a sweeter or you can mix it with fresh milk before eating. As the culture grows larger it will put out more kefiran. When you have more than 1 tablespoon of grains per cup of milk, the kefir yogurt can become slimy and unappetizing. At that point you can either start feeding your culture more milk at a time, or you can split the grains and give them away, compost them, or eat them, which is perfectly safe.

straining kefir

Once the kefir is the flavor and consistency you like, pour it through a plastic strainer to separate it from the grains.

straining kefir

I find it helps to gently stir with a wooden spoon to break it up and help it fall away from the grains. Pour the kefir into a new jar and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to eat it.

Put the grains back in the empty jar and feed them fresh milk to start the fermentation process over again. Don’t worry about the kefir that sticks to the sides and the bottom of the jar—it will help inoculate the new milk. If you’re not ready to eat 2 cups of kefir a day, you can let the grains get accustomed to the milk for half or even a full day and then put the jar into the fridge. The cold will slow the fermentation down and the grains will keep for as long as a month or two. Any longer than that and I like to take out the grains and feed them fresh milk.

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